7/10. Illustrations by Israeli artists

Something terrible is about to happen,” hints the line at the bottom of a colourful illustration, almost as innocent as a child’s drawing, and only the text hints at the worst of all.

On October 7, 2023, thousands of armed terrorists invaded Israel, attacked families in their homes and murdered, tortured, raped, burned and destroyed entire communities. More than 1,200 people were murdered on that ‘Black Saturday’. 240 Israelis, including babies, the elderly, women and men, were forcibly abducted to Gaza by Hamas terrorists and their supporters.

This murderous blow brought hundreds of illustrators and artists to express in a spontaneous artistic way the feelings of pain, horror and rage. Beyond impressive works in their own right, their art helps to understand the horrors and fear they feel.

Illustration has enormous power in conveying messages. In today’s reality we are flooded with messages and a lot of words are needed to explain and portray the horror, its complexities and the fear it entails. An illustration can carry a complex message, even an emotion, without the need for too complicated arguments and without semantics. Using graphic descriptions of the atrocities, with thin and minimalist lines and sophisticated metaphors, designers and illustrators deal with the murderous attack on Israel that have shocked, traumatized and deeply affected millions of Israelis, Jews and people all over the world.

This exhibition presents artworks by 17 artists. The exhibition is offered by the Embassy of Israel in Latvia and is on display from 8 October to 18 October 2024 at the museum “Jews in Latvia”.